ATLANTIC CANADANew Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador,Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island,Saint-Pierre et MiquelonDavid Currie31 Old Birch Road

Dartmouth, NS B2W 6B4

david_currie@ns.sympatico.ca

The weather in the Atlantic for the112th Christmas Bird Count season—one of the most open and mild countperiods in memory—may have ustalking for some time. Only one countfell victim to poor conditions, and,despite that loss, a respectable 53 countstook place, improving last year’s numberby two. Nova Scotia led the charge with22 counts, adding Truro for the first

time. New Brunswick had 16 counts,Newfoundland and Labrador 11, PrinceEdward Island 2, and Saint-Pierre andMiquelon had 2 as well.

Many compilers reported having atleast partly open fresh water, and two-thirds of the counts had not a trace ofsnow on the ground. Feeders seemedinactive because of good wild crops,which had people lamenting the scarcityof birds.

Regionally, an outstanding total of180 species was tallied, not includingthe 7 found during count period. Theresults provided several new provincial,regional, and Canadian records.

Several species showed significantchanges, making it hard not to draw

conclusions relating to climate changeand habitat loss. Conditions allowedBelted Kingfishers to linger this year,providing us with a new all-timeregional high of 44 individuals. TurkeyVultures reached a new record level of59 with a staggering 56 in southernNova Scotia alone. The 47 AmericanCoots were obviously enticed to staywith ample open fresh water, andNorthern Flicker numbers doubled lastyear’s totals at 249. Yellow-breastedChats broke the previous record with22. On the other hand, only 102Harlequin Ducks were seen, the lowesttotal since the late 1990s. The BorealChickadee situation continues to be aconcern with less than 500 counted, of

THE 112TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 41

Count circles inATLANTIC CANADA

Regional Summaries of the 112th Christmas Bird Count

which 209 came from the 11Newfoundland counts. Maybe worsewere just two Spruce Grouse, one eachon two counts in Newfoundland andLabrador.

Food sources farther north and westof us were obviously adequate and keptus from seeing many winter finches. Wehad exceedingly low counts of PineGrosbeak, Red and White-winged cross-bills, Pine Siskin, and redpolls. Thataside, there were four Hoary Redpollsfound in Labrador, one at HappyValley-Goose Bay and three atWabush-Labrador City. As expected,Newfoundland and Labrador accountedfor more than 50 percent of theCommon Redpoll number, but therewas only a meager total of 803 countedin the region. Evening Grosbeaks arenow just a shadow of their once abun-dant numbers of the 1970s and 80s withjust over 500 counted in the entireregion. House Sparrows continue theirdecline here with just 1958, the lowestnumber in 53 years.

Of the 16 New Brunswick counts,highlights included 121 Brant, a KingEider, a Broad-winged Hawk, and aGrasshopper Sparrow at Grand Manan;one of only two Wood Ducks in theregion came from Memramcook; andthe only regional record this year of aCooper’s Hawk occurred at Fredericton.Red-bellied Woodpeckers continue theirmove into the region, with 33 of therecord 68 coming from New Brunswick.A Red-headed Woodpecker was foundat Riverside-Albert, and more unusualwas a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsuckerat Black’s Harbour, only the 11th recordfor the region. The only Carolina Wren inthe region this year was seen at Fredericton.A Marsh Wren at Moncton was one ofonly two attempting to overwinter in theAtlantic, and Fredericton briefly hosteda Northern Parula. Incidentally, theregion tallied four Northern Parulas,twice the combined total of previouslyseen birds on CBCs in Canada.

For Nova Scotia, a Pink-footedGoose that found its way to Windsor inearly October continued to accompanyCanada Geese there until two daysbefore count day at West Hants. This isthe first for a CBC count period inCanada. A skua sp. came close enoughto shore to be noticed at Louisbourg andas if that wasn’t good enough, a verywell-described Cory’s Shearwater wasalso observed there making it only thesecond Canadian and regional CBCrecord.

Another first for the Atlantic was aCattle Egret, one of two that were lin-gering near Yarmouth during the period.An Empidonax flycatcher had the crewin Antigonish desperately trying togather details to cement an identifica-tion, but the best anyone could do wasto narrow it down to either Least orDusky. An Ovenbird appeared in excel-lent condition on December 30 duringcount day at Broad Cove, NS; a Black-and-white Warbler turned up at TheSydneys; and rounding out the moreunusual warblers were two NorthernParulas, one each at Halifax-Dartmouthand at Yarmouth.

A Mountain Bluebird was beautifullyphotographed by Cathy and AllanMurrant during the Glace Bay CBC,becoming the second record for theregion for this species. Strong southeastwinds during the Brier Island count keptpasserines out of sight as evidenced bythe misses of four Eastern Bluebirds anda Ruby-crowned Kinglet that werefound before and after count day. Thosewinds made for spectacular sea watchingat the mouth of the Bay of Fundy,though, where 4795 Black-leggedKittiwakes, 2300 Iceland Gulls, andalmost 3600 Razorbills were seen.

In any other year Halifax-Dartmouth’s House Wren, CommonGallinule, and Eastern Meadowlarkplus Lunenburg’s Indigo Bunting mayhave made top billing, but there is nodoubt that the most improbable birdencounter this year has to be the nextspecies and a perfect example of “birdsare where you find them.” It seems, inCanada, there is a coffee shop 15minutes from anywhere, and when

42 AMERICAN BIRDS

Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima),St. Paul’s-Cow Head, Newfoundland.Photo/Darroch Whitaker

Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramussavannarum), Grand Manan Island,New Brunswick. Photo/M. Cormier

Dovekie (Alle alle), St. Paul’s-Cow Head,Newfoundland. Photo/Darroch Whitaker

Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)(top), Bonne Bay, Newfoundland.Photo/Darroch Whitaker

Murray and Cindy Newell needed abreak, they made a brief stop at one atBarrington Passage, NS. They couldn’thelp but notice a small bird just belowthe drive-thru speaker that they hadnever seen before. Little did they knowthat they had just seen the firstCanadian CBC record for LazuliBunting!

Our Atlantic population of GrayPartridge seems to be a memory. Notone was found in Nova Scotia and therewas just a single sighting during countweek in Hillsborough PEI.

The first Gyrfalcon since 2000occurred at Ile. Saint-Pierre, and evenone of those wayward Northern Parulas

found its way there. A first for theFrench Isles was an American Coot plusthe only Dickcissel for the entire region.

In Newfoundland, there were twoKing Eider at Cape Race and observersat St. John’s counted 22 Tufted Ducks.The Yellow-legged Gull that has beenloafing around St. John’s was seenduring count week but, unfortunately,didn’t manage to make itself available tobirders on count day; however, 13 LesserBlack-backed Gulls did, as well as a lin-gering Cape May Warbler. There weretwo Common Gulls at Gros Morne aswas the region’s only American Three-toed Woodpecker.

This was an exceptional count periodin the Atlantic. There were more counts,more people involved, and the weathercouldn’t have been more kind.

QUÉBECMarcel DarveauDucks Unlimited Canada

710, rue Bouvier, bureau 260, Québec

m_darveau@ducks.ca

The 112th Christmas Bird Countwent very well in Québec. A total of 146species was observed on count day, ofwhich 58 were aquatic species (40percent of all species), 21 were raptors

(hawks and owls, 14 percent), and 67were land birds (grouse, woodpecker,and passerine, 46 percent).

Thirty-seven counts, including theOttawa-Gatineau count (half in Québecand half in Ontario), were completedbetween December 15, 2011 andJanuary 2, 2012. A new count wasadded this year: MRC des Moulins. Themost popular day was December 17with 16 counts, followed by December18 with 8 counts. In total, there were1005 participants, of which 837 in thefield and 168 at feeders. Québec Cityhad the most observers (113), followedby Ottawa-Gatineau (105).

A total of 341,340 birds was reported,an increase of 55 percent relative to lastyear. St-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu rankedfirst with 121,545 birds, thanks to thepresence of 61,699 Snow Geese and43,802 American Crows. Ottawa-Gatineau counters tallied 32,035 birds.Across the province, Montréal rankedfirst in number of species (75) trailed byQuébec City (71). The inter-provincialborder count of Ottawa-Gatineautotaled 77 species.

Only one species was reported in allcounts: the Black-capped Chickadee.Seven species had a total of more than

THE 112TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 43

Count circles inQUÉBEC

Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia),The Sydneys, Nova Scotia.Photo/ Juana MacLeod

10,000 individual across the province:Snow Goose (78,635), American Crow(77,639), Canada Goose (53,995),European Starling (38,847), Rock Pigeon(15,509), Black-capped Chickadee(14,500), and Mallard (10,136).

If we look at threatened species, 15Harlequin Ducks (Forillon 10, Perce 5)and two Horned Grebes (Montréal andSt-Timothee) are noticeable. The BaldEagle and Peregrine Falcon wereobserved in relatively large numberswith, respectively, 79 and 13 individualsdistributed in 24 and 5 counts. TheGolden Eagle was reported for a sixthconsecutive year (Chute-St-Philippe 1,Laval-Ahuntsic 1, Mirabel 1, OtterburnPark 1, and Ste-Anne-du-Lac 2). TwoShort-eared Owls (Longueuil andOttawa) and one Rusty Blackbird(Québec) were also seen.

Regarding Québec’s rare bird high-lights, the following species were observedin one count area only: one GreaterWhite-fronted Goose (Québec City), 65Northern Shoveler (Laval-Ahuntsic), twoCanvasback (Cowansville), one Redhead(St-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu), nine GrayPartridge (Québec City), four TurkeyVultures (Georgeville), one Gyrfalcon(Laval-Ahuntsic), one Wilson’s Snipe(Québec City), one Lesser Black-backedGull (Otterburn Park), one Thick-billedMurre (Perce), one Northern Saw-whetOwl (Otterburn Park), one BeltedKingfisher (Lac Brome), two AmericanThree-toed Woodpeckers (Chute-St-Philippe), one Ruby-crowned Kinglet(Montréal), one Townsend’s Solitaire(Chicoutimi-Jonquiere), one VariedThrush (Chicoutimi-Jonquiere), oneBrown Thrasher (Longueuil), oneYellow-rumped Warbler (Montreal), onePine Warbler (Montreal), one SavannahSparrow (Longueuil), and 15 LaplandLongspurs (Hudson).

Two species warrant special mention:Canada Goose and Snow Goose. Thefirst reports for those species in Québeccounts, respectively, go back to years1951–52 (52nd CBC) and 1962–63(63rd). Since that time, both speciesincreased slowly until the turn of the

new millennium when they both passedthe line of 10,000 individuals. They arenow in an exponential increase phase, asboth had more than 50,000 birdsreported this year. Obviously, globalclimate change and corn production insouthern Québec are beneficial to them!

ONTARIOSarah Rupert Point Pelee National Park

407 Monarch Lane, RR1

Leamington, ON N8H 3V4

sarah.rupert@pc.gc.gov

Volunteers collected data in 114Christmas Bird Count circles inOntario. Data for Mountain Chutes andHaileybury (New Liskeard) were notsubmitted in time to be included in thesummary. A new count started in BlindRiver (ONBL).

A total of 2622 observers participatedin the field this season, with an addi-tional 815 individuals at feeders. Theobservers logged a total of 67,772 partykilometers (42,112 miles) and 7779party hours. Owling was conducted in60 count circles this year, with 2347kilometers (1458 miles) and 227 hourslogged. A total of 186 species and1,765,986 individuals were recorded, atotal that approached the 1.9 millionrange with the additional count data.

Counts on the Great Lakes were mostproductive. Long Point tallied 111species, followed by Blenheim (108),Hamilton and Kingston (105), andNiagara Falls and Point Pelee (98). Mostcounts recorded higher than averagenumbers of species (averaging between55 and 65 species). Pickle Lake had theleast number of species (9).

Fall weather was much warmer thanusual in most part of Ontario, as werethe conditions on count days. Waterfowlmoved later in the season, and withmuch more open water the numbersand diversity of that group were greaterthan normal. The weather on manycounts was more typical of Novemberthan December.

Some waterfowl records were shatteredthis year. A new record for Red-breasted

Merganser was set (94,730/30,420 107thcount), with one third of the individualsreported from Point Pelee (27,311).

Long-tailed Ducks were also abun-dant this year, with many inland countssuch as Minden reporting them for thefirst time. The largest concentration wasreported in Hamilton (21,954 HC).The total recorded this year (50,713)was a five-year high for Ontario.

Results indicate a significant move-ment of Sandhill Cranes during thecount period this season. Several largeflocks were noted this year in central andsouthern Ontario, the largest at PointPelee (101).

Highlights for Ontario counts thisyear include the well-documented irrup-tion of Snowy Owls in North Americathis year—94 individuals were reportedin 37 count circles, with large concen-trations in Kingston (16) and SaugeenShores (15). Northern Hawk Owl andGreat Gray Owl were not irruptive thisyear. A single Northern Hawk Owl wasreported in Timmins (ND), and noGreat Gray Owls were reported duringthe count period, though one did appearin the Cedar Creek count circle a coupledays after the count week ended. As pre-dicted, there were no significant irrup-tions of winter finches and associatedspecies to the south this year.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers continue toshow a winter range expansion and arethus reported as new species on counts,especially in Eastern Ontario. Bald Eagle

44 AMERICAN BIRDS

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus),Eganville, Ontario. Photo/Christian Renault

numbers were high in the northern partof the province; Thunder Bay recorded179. One compiler suggested that asdeer populations are increasing in thenorth, so are the eagle numbers as theyare often seen eating road-kill deer.

Other significant sightings includeHarlequin Duck (ONME, GD), Red-throated Loon (ONNF, HC 86;ONAI; ONPP), Black Vulture (ONNF,4, PH present with Turkey Vulturesthrough the winter), Franklin’s Gull(ONHA and ONSS, ND), Thayer’sGull (ONMN, PH), Ross’s Gull(ONKP, CW, MD), Black-leggedKittiwake (ONPP, 2, GD) PomarineJaeger (ONOW, ND), RufousHummingbird (ONEG, PS),Loggerhead Shrike (ONPV, ND),White-eyed Vireo (ONCC, PH),Townsend’s Solitaire (ONMM andONRH, GD), Yellow Warbler (ONLP,ND), Black-throated Gray Warbler(ONHA, PS, PH), Palm Warbler(ONTO, ND), Wilson’s Warbler(ONHA, PS), Harris’s Sparrow (ONBP,GD; ONDR, PH), and BaltimoreOriole (ONBA, PH; ONTI, CW, ND).

Thanks to all the compilers for theirefforts this year as we transitioned intoour new data entry system. I can’t waitto see what the 113th count periodbrings.

THE 112TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 45

Count circles inONTARIO

Ontario detail

Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), Niagara Falls, Ontario-New York. Photo/Willie D’Anna

PRAIRIE PROVINCES ANDNORTHERN CANADAChristian ArtusoBird Studies Canada

Box 24, 200 Saulteaux Crescent

Winnipeg, MB R3J 3W3

cartuso@birdscanada.org

Alberta, Northwest Territories, NunavutRainer Ebel 18624-70 Avenue

Edmonton, AB T5T 2V8

graejay@shaw.ca

Manitoba Robert Parsons 69 Thatcher Drive

Winnipeg, MB R3T 2L3

parsons8@mts.net

SaskatchewanGuy Wapple322 Gilliam Circle

Saskatoon, SK S7N 3R9

gswap@sasktel.net

Exactly 100 counts were held in theregion this year, up 4 from last winter:36 in Alberta (-3 from last year), 35 inSaskatchewan (+3), 21 in Manitoba(+2), 4 in Northwest Territories (=) and4 in Nunavut (+2). A total of 136species was reported overall (plus 5count week), a substantial increase from118 last winter: 122 in Alberta (+13), 96in Saskatchewan (+6), 79 in Manitoba(+7), 27 in Northwest Territories (+8)and 8 in Nunavut (+6).

In Alberta, Calgary lead the pack with61 species recorded. In Saskatchewan,Saskatoon again has the highest countwith 48 species (plus 2 count weekspecies, hitting the magical 50 mark forthe first time). In Manitoba, Winnipegheld narrowly onto top spot with 46species. In NWT, Fort Simpson, with 18species, narrowly pipped both FortSmith and Hay River to the post by justone species. In Nunavut, Arviat andChesterfield Inlet tied for top spot withfour species each.

Despite long-range forecasts for bittercold, many counters in the PrairieProvinces may remember this as thewinter that wasn’t. Mild temperaturesand below-average snowfall no doubtcontributed to high species totals and

increased effort. Daily minimums oncount days in the three Prairie Provincesaveraged around minus 6 degreesCelsius, considerably warmer than thepast three counts (average of minus 14degrees Celsius, minus 17 degreesCelsius, and minus 26 degrees Celsius,respectively). Almost unheard of on theprairies, some counters enjoyed above-freezing temperatures with no snowcover and were able to participate,perhaps for the first time ever wearingfewer than three layers of winter cloth-ing. Despite the balmy conditions,many Albertan counters had to cling totheir clipboards in Chinook conditions,including winds gusting to 110 kilome-ters per hour (68 miles per hour) on theCrowsnest count. In Nunavut and theNorthwest Territories, however, theaverage minimum was the same as forthe last count at minus 22 degreesCelsius (but still warmer than the twopreceding counts (minus 23 degreesCelsius and minus 32 degrees Celsius).

As expected, given the mild condi-tions, waterfowl numbers were high.Both Alberta and Saskatchewanrecorded 18 species of waterfowl, whichis especially high in Saskatchewan, whileManitoba recorded five species andNunavut two species (Common Eiderand Long-tailed Duck). Impressivetotals of other waterbirds were alsorecorded, especially in Alberta where theprovincial totals included four grebespecies, Common Loon, Double-crestedCormorant, four gull species, and othersincluding American Coot, Killdeer, andWilson’s Snipe. Last year’s Virginia Railwas followed by a count week bird againat Banff-Canmore. Saskatchewan alsorecord three grebe species, AmericanWhite Pelican, American Coot, andHerring Gull. Manitoba recorded onlyfive waterfowl species; however, aCanvasback in Winnipeg was excep-tional, as was a Herring Gull in Gimli.

Upland gamebird numbers wererather varied this year. Ruffed Grouseand Spruce Grouse rebounded fromvery low counts last year, the RuffedGrouse total being 184 (up from 155

but still slightly lower than the 30-yearaverage) and the Spruce Grouse total of21 being well above last year’s total of 9and also well above the 30-year averageof 13. Sharp-tailed Grouse numberswere much lower than last year (777,down from 1181) but still above the 30-year average (738). The highlight wasthe addition of Rock Ptarmigan in bothNunavut and Alberta, the latter thanksto a provincial first at the new northerncount of Garden City.

Good numbers and a variety ofdiurnal raptors were reported through-out the prairies. This included a goodshowing from American Kestrels, whichare uncommon in winter on the prairies(count week in Saskatchewan, 2 inAlberta, 4 in Manitoba). In fact, it was agood year for falcons in general with allthree Prairie Provinces recording Merlin,Prairie Falcon, and Gyrfalcon (also inNWT) and Alberta recording theregion’s only Peregrine Falcon. Bothsmall accipiters are becoming increasingregular on prairie CBCs and this countwas no exception for Sharp-shinnedHawks (MB, 3; SK, 5; AB, 11) andCooper’s Hawks (MB, 2; SK, cw; AB,11) plus various unidentified accipiters.Bald Eagle numbers were high in allthree prairie jurisdictions (MB, 33; SK,83; AB, 115) but nowhere record break-ing except at the individual count level.Given the lack of snow cover it is unsur-prising that Rough-legged Hawksnumbers were reasonably high, especiallyin the west (MB, 6; SK, 13; AB, 180).

On the whole, the boreal forest owlswere detected in low numbers this winter.Many observers took a keen interest inSnowy Owl numbers, however, given thelow numbers recorded last year and themajor southern irruption that began thisfall. Arguably, the biggest numbers ofSnowy Owls had already moved south ofsouthern Canada by count period, wherethey were delighting many U.S. observers.Nonetheless, 167 Snowy Owls were talliedin the three Prairie Provinces (none in thenorth), a huge increase from last year’s totalof 35, yet roughly equal to the 30-yearaverage of 0.05 birds per party hour.

46 AMERICAN BIRDS

Winter finch numbers were unremark-able. Evening Grosbeak numbers weredown (half the 1.2 birds per party hourrate of last year) whereas Pine Grosbeaknumbers were high, especially in Alberta

and Saskatchewan. House Finch, PurpleFinch, and Northern Cardinal all contin-ued their increasing western trend.Overwintering sparrows were not espe-cially remarkable despite the mildweather, although Manitoba enjoyed alarge count of Dark-eyed Juncos andother notable records such as a ChippingSparrow in Winnipeg and a Harris’sSparrow at Cypress River. Snow Buntingsnumbers fell drastically to 15,158 fromlast years tally of nearly 50,000.

With four counts this year, Nunavutquadrupled their species tally from last

THE 112TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 47

Count circles inPRAIRIE PROVINCES AND NORTHERN CANADA

Alberta detail

Manitoba detail

year to eight species, including species ofnote such as Long-tailed Duck andBlack Guillemot. In the NorthwestTerritories, single count observations ofPileated Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco,and Common Grackle were noteworthy.

Single CBC circle and noteworthycounts from the Northwest Territoriesincluded a Northern Goshawk(Yellowknife, 1), Gyrfalcon (Yellowknife,2), Pileated Woodpecker (Fort Smith,1), Dark-eyed Junco (Hay River, 1), andCommon Grackle (Fort Smith, 3).

Alberta saw its very first AmericanPipit on a CBC count (Calgary, 1) andrecord or near-record counts of Mallard,Redhead, and some of the province’sfirst well-detailed CBC records of Clay-colored Sparrow (Lac la Biche, 4).

Saskatchewan enjoyed a series of highcounts and exceptional records, includ-ing Snow Goose (Regina, 1), CacklingGoose (an exceptional count of 50 atGardiner Dam), Gadwall (Estevan, 3),Northern Pintail (Estevan, 1), Redhead(Estevan, 27), White-winged Scoter(Gardiner Dam, 2), Long-tailed Duck(Squaw Rapids, 1), Barrow’s Goldeneye(Squaw Rapids, 1), Hooded Merganser(Estevan, 5), Red-necked Grebe(Gardiner Dam, 2), a white-morphGyrfalcon at Estevan (count week),Winter Wren (Fort Qu’Appelle, 1),White-crowned Sparrow (Ketchen, 1),and Northern Cardinal (Yorkton, 1;Prince Albert, count week).

In Manitoba, Eurasian Collared-Dovenumbers continued to increase. BothAmerican Crow and Common Ravenalso continued their recent increasingtrend. Records of note included aCanvasback in Winnipeg, a Green-winged Teal in Minnedosa, a Red-shafted Flicker at Pinawa, and a Black-backed Woodpecker in Winnipeg(unusual context). Noteworthy singlerecords included Turkey Vulture(Cypress River, count week), Red-bellied Woodpecker (Winnipeg), threeTownsend’s Solitaires at Cypress River;Varied Thrush (Winnipeg), NorthernMockingbird (Minnedosa), andNorthern Cardinal (Winnipeg).

BRITISH COLUMBIA/YUKONTERRITORYRichard J. CanningsBird Studies Canada

705 Sunglo Drive

Penticton, BC V2A 8X7

dickcannings@shaw.ca

With the exception of a few windydays, the Christmas Bird Count seasonwas generally balmy and warm west ofthe Rockies. The number of counts roseby 2 to 103, with 91 from BC and 12from the Yukon. New counts came infrom 100 Mile House and Slocan Lake,BC, and Carmacks, YT. The speciestotal for BC counts dropped by one to228 this year, while Yukon counts found39 species, one more than last year.Traditional leaders Ladner and Victoriatied for the highest species total this yearwith 140 species. In the Interior, Oliver-Osoyoos led with 107 species.Whitehorse was tops in the Yukon with27 species, up 2 from last year.

The Fraser Valley continues to hostmore than half the Trumpeter Swans inthe region; a record 8250 were reportedoverall, with 2057 in Chilliwack alone.Significant concentrations of SurfScoters were seen on the east side ofGeorgia Strait, including 12,216 inLower Howe Sound. White-tailedPtarmigan were seen two BC counts—four at Mackenzie and one at Whistler,while Willow Ptarmigan were reportedfrom two Yukon counts—12 at HainesJunction and 10 at Old Crow. WildTurkeys continue to increase, spreadingwest out of the Kootenays; the newestoutpost is a group of six seen in theSimilkameen Valley on the Cawstoncount.

The Juan de Fuca count reported agood list of pelagic species, including 35Northern Fulmars, five Short-tailedShearwaters, a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel,a Brown Pelican, and count week Laysanand Black-footed albatross. Bald Eaglesnumbers were up somewhat with 9548seen; highest counts were again atHarrison River (1835) and Ladner(1265). Peregrine Falcon numbers wereexactly the same as last year, with 95

seen on 24 counts; single Prairie Falconswere seen on three Okanagan counts:Bridesville, Oliver-Osoyoos, and Kelowna.Rails were well represented this year, with106 Virginias seen on 19 counts, includ-ing 34 at Nanaimo alone; single Soraswere at Pitt Meadows and Victoria.

Thick-billed Murres are very rare inBC waters, so nine at Hecate Strait wereextraordinary, but the alcid jackpotcame from Sunshine Coast, which had21,420 Ancient Murrelets and a TuftedPuffin. The Eurasian Collared-Doveexplosion continues, with 1580 seen on51 counts, including 3 at HainesJunction, YT. A total of 47 Snowy Owlswere seen on seven counts, the bulk ofthem (35) on the Fraser River delta atLadner. Anna’s Hummingbirds seem tobe staging a dramatic populationincrease; 2103 were seen on 25 counts,including 1063 at Victoria alone and 4away from the coast at Penticton. TheCosta’s Hummingbird reported on theVancouver count last year stayed all yearand was tallied on this year’s count aswell.

Two Rock Wrens were an interestingfind at Lake Country in the northOkanagan Valley. Lake Country alsoreported a Bewick’s Wren at the northend of this species’ new Interior range;the only other Interior counts withBewick’s were Penticton (1) and Oliver-Osoyoos (3). Prince George had the highcount for Bohemian Waxwing with 3270;this species was relatively uncommon or

48 AMERICAN BIRDS

Costa’s Hummingbird (Calypte costae),Victoria, British Columbia.Photo/ Michelle Lamberson

absent in the southern interior of BC,where the only significant concentrationwas at Princeton (1600). Rare warblersincluded a Common Yellowthroat atHarrison River and a Wilson’s at Kelowna,but the rarest was a Black-throated Blue

at Penticton. Other rarities included aWestern Tanager at Lillooet, a Clay-colored Sparrow in Vancouver, a FoxSparrow at McBride, and a LaplandLongspur at Revelstoke. Three sparrowswere unexpected in the Yukon: a White-crowned at Carcross and Savannah andGolden-crowned at Whitehorse.

Forest finches showed variable pat-terns. Red Crossbills were scatteredacross southern BC, with the only sig-nificant concentration a total of 800 atWhistler. As usual, White-wingedCrossbills were scarcer; the highestcount was 224 at Apex-Hedley. It was adecent year for redpolls, with 6436Commons seen on 58 counts. Hoaries

were only seen on five counts, includingfive at Dawson Creek, three at WatsonLake, and one at Princeton. Pine Siskinswere common, especially in coastalforests; Whistler reported 4655, almost10 percent of the regional total of40,312. Evening Grosbeak numberswere well down from last year with only1785 seen.

ALASKA Buzz Scher8640 Leeper Circle

Anchorage, AK 99504

bscher@rmconsult.com

The 112th Alaska CBC involved arecord 1013 participants—752 in thefield conducting 38 counts (on par withthe five-year running average)—and atally of 141 species (plus 7 count week)and 132,947 individual birds (bothtallies below the five-year runningaverage). Kodiak, after suffering ahumiliating upset last year to Ketchikan,regained top honors with 78 species;while Prudhoe Bay again recorded onlyone (Common Raven) for the 25thstraight year, which has to be an interna-tional record in perseverance! The mostindividual birds were counted atAnchorage (18,228; thank goodness forwaxwings—see below), which, alongwith Fairbanks, involved the most coun-ters (150 {a record} and 113, respec-tively). One new count circle was added,at Copper Center in east-central Alaska.As for the weather—well, it was “winter”on every count. Not much more can besaid than that. And one new species wasadded to the Alaska CBC list (and Ibelieve also new to the North Americancounts): A Dusky Thrush was recordedduring count week at Anchorage(missed on count day, even though itwas present both before and after; betterluck next time).

The overall perception is that thisseason was not particularly noteworthy.Across Alaska a majority of the circlescounted fewer total species and individ-ual birds relative to their respective five-year running averages. And despiterecord participation at the regional level,

THE 112TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 49

Count circles inBRITISH COLUMBIA AND YUKON TERRITORY

British Columbia detail

a majority of the counts involved fewerparticipants relative to their respectivefive-year running averages—except forthe interior and western Alaska counts,which mostly experienced increases inparticipation (well done).

The most common species countedin the Alaska Region include Mallard(10,545) and Bohemian Waxwing(9250; 95 percent in Anchorage); while14 species were represented by only oneindividual. On a subregional basis,Common Goldeneye and Glaucous-winged Gull were the most numerousspecies tallied on the southeasterncounts, Mallard and BohemianWaxwing on the southcoastal counts,Brant and Emperor Goose on thesouthwestern counts, and CommonRaven and Common Redpoll on theinterior/western/northern counts. AndNor the rn Goshawk , DownyWoodpecker, Northern Shrike, Gray Jay,Black-billed Magpie, Common Raven,Black-capped Chickadee, SnowBunting, Pine Grosbeak, and CommonRedpoll were the most diverse species,being recorded on at least one of thecounts in all of the Alaska subregions.

New Alaska region “high counts” wereset for 10 species: Canvasback (48,Craig-Klawock), Barrow’s Goldeneye(1914, Wrangell), Pacific Loon (530,Ketchikan), Western Grebe (402,Ketchikan), Laysan Albatross (17,Shemya), Red-winged Blackbird (24,Juneau—take that “Lower-48”), Steller’s Jay(98, Anchorage), Black-capped Chickadee(2080, Anchorage), White-crowned

Sparrow (57, Homer—way cool), andGray-crowned Rosy-Finch (664,Homer). On a subregional scale, newhigh counts were also set for SnowBuntings in southcoastal Alaska (300,Matanuska Valley); Common Loon(21), Mew Gull (74), and Dark-eyedJunco (14) all at Unalaska in southwest-ern Alaska; and Northern Goshawk (6—remarkable), Black-capped Chickadee(84), and Pine Grosbeak (592) all atBethel in western Alaska.

Other noteworthy finds (at least tome) included only 82 Emperor Geese atIzembek N.W.R. (record low), a WoodDuck at Glacier Bay (I still need that onmy Alaska list!), a Greater Yellowlegs atKetchikan, single Slaty-backed Gulls atKetchikan and Soldotna, single Anna’sHummingbirds on three counts(Ketchikan, Mitkof Island, Sitka), atotal 26 Eurasian Collared-Doves oneight circles (7 counts in southeasternand 1{Cordova} in southcoastal Alaska),a count week Golden-crowned Kingletat King Salmon-Naknek (new to thesouthwestern subregion), a White-throated Sparrow at Kodiak, twoGolden-crowned Sparrows and aBrambling at Unalaska, and two White-crowned Sparrows (singles at Copper

Center and Tok) in interior Alaska, anda McKay’s Bunting at Soldotna.

Finally, a word of caution to allwould-be researchers thinking of usingthe historic database to try and makesense of, or a case for (insert “cause”) thewinter status and distribution of birds inAlaska. Though there have about 1135counts completed in Alaska since 1960(neglecting the handful of earlier

50 AMERICAN BIRDS

Count circles inALASKA

Alaska detail

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus),Ketchikan, Alaska. Photo/Jim Lewis

counts), about 40 percent of the 68 totalcircles were only active for less than 10years, and almost half of the 15 circlesadded during the past 20 years were onlycompleted once or twice, implying to thiscivil engineer that the Alaska CBC data,as a whole, contains more than a fewholes and is likely statistically challenging.

I trust everyone is enjoying searchingfor and scanning the scattered countresults on your computer screen orsmart phone—I for one miss the printedversions, where you could see all thedata from each individual count in onesnapshot (e.g. species, annotations andeditor comments, participants, weather,etc.). Okay, I am a curmudgeon.

NEW ENGLANDConnecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,New Hampshire, Rhode Island, VermontWayne R. PetersenMassachusetts Important Bird Area Program

208 South Great Road

Lincoln, MA 01773

wpeterson@massaudubon.org

“Where am I?” is an often challengingand always popular party game. Withthe game in mind, if we were to invitereaders of the 112th Christmas BirdCount summary to guess in what CBCregion the following collection of specieswas recorded—Brown Booby, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Golden Eagle,Marbled Godwit, Great Skua, NorthernHawk Owl, Cassin’s Kingbird, NorthernRough-winged Swallow, Wood Thrush,Cape May Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler,and Painted Bunting—what do yousuppose the answers would look like? Ifa second guess is needed, how aboutPink-footed Goose, Pacific Loon, GreatShearwater, King Rail, Lesser Yellowlegs,Laughing Gull, Thayer’s Gull, AtlanticPuffin, Ash-throated Flycatcher,Townsend’s Solitaire, Northern Parula,and Rose-breasted Grosbeak? And sinceMajor League Baseball gives a batterthree strikes, here’s a third opportunity:Barnacle Goose, Northern Bobwhite,Little Blue Heron, Northern Goshawk,Willet, Little Gull, Forster’s Tern,Pomarine Jaeger, Common Murre,

Western Kingbird, Blue-headed Vireo,and American Redstart.

Not to prolong the agony, thisremarkable assortment of species repre-sents only a fraction of the mind-blowing237 species collectively recorded on the112th New England CBC. In the nearly30 years that this editor has been editingNew England CBCs, this total far andaway exceeds the previous all-time highof 225 species recorded in 1999–2000.In addition to the stunning total of 237species belong a count week Osprey andthree recognizable subspecies (i.e.,“Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warbler,“Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow, and“Oregon” Dark-eyed Junco). Accountingfor these remarkable statistics were 3270observers who participated in 122 NewEngland counts, invested 9704.26 partyhours of effort, and traveled 41,911.9party miles in their quest to locate andtally species for their individual countcircles. More than anything, however,the survival of so many vagrants andlate-lingering species was undoubtedlydue to the fortuitous combination ofextraordinarily mild late fall and earlywinter weather, lots open ground andunfrozen water, and generally favorableconditions on many count days.

As suggested above, count conditionswere nearly ideal on many counts thisseason, with a number of compilersspecifically commenting on how lots ofopen water and snow-free groundseemed to affect their count totals.Accordingly, some passerine species wereapparently more dispersed than usualdue to the relatively snow-free condi-tions, and waterfowl were specificallymentioned as being less concentratedbecause of all the open water.

In keeping with an Olympic Year,special accolades go to the state countsachieving the highest CBC totals. Insouthern New England the Gold Medalwent to Mid-Cape Cod (137) inMassachusetts, with Silver and Bronzebelonging, respectively, to New Haven(128) in Connecticut and NewportCounty-Westport (127) in Rhode Island.In northern New England top honors

belonged to Coastal New Hampshire(117) in New Hampshire, followed byGreater Portland (97) in Maine andFerrisburg (81) in Vermont. Not surpris-ingly some of the count and species totalswere the highest in many years.

With such an embarrassment of richesto choose from this year, selecting themost outstanding CBC records of theseason posed a significant challenge. Onthe short list have to be Pink-footedGoose at Worcester, Brown Booby atMid-Cape Cod, Cassin’s Kingbird atNewburyport, Northern Rough-winged Swallow at Hartford, andWood Thrush at Woodbury-Roxbury.Considering the rarity of these species Iam pleased to report that all wereextremely well documented.

Species that in most years wouldreceive top honors as most “Off theWall” candidates include BarnacleGoose at Newburyport; Great Shearwaterat Cape Ann and Cape Cod; Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at Stratford-Milford; Willet (2) and Lesser Yellowlegsat Cape Cod; Great Skua (2) atNantucket; Parasitic Jaeger at OldLyme; Ash-throated Flycatcher atGreater Boston, Cape Cod, and NewBedford; Cape May Warbler atBarkhamsted; Townsend’s Warbler atNewburyport; American Redstart atBrattleboro; Indigo Bunting atNorthampton; and Painted Bunting atCape Cod. What is especially fascinatingabout this mix of species is their diversepoint of origin. The Palearctic is repre-sented by Pink-footed Goose and

THE 112TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 51

Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypiscelata), Groton-Oxbow N.W.R.,Massachusetts. Photo/Tom Murray